(Angus Reid Global Monitor) - Fewer people in South Africa hold positive views on Thabo Mbeki, according to a poll by Research Surveys. 32 per cent of respondents think Mbeki is doing a good job president, down five points since April.

Mbeki replaced Nelson Mandela as South Africa’s president after the 1999 general election, where the African National Council (ANC) received 66.4 per cent of the vote. Mbeki led the ANC to a second majority government in April 2004, with 69.68 per cent of all cast ballots and 279 lawmakers in the 400-seat National Assembly.

South Africans will renew their legislature and choose a new president next year. In January, Jacob Zuma—currently the ANC president—was named as the party’s presidential candidate.

On Jul. 24, Rok Ajulu, a political analyst, denied that the recent resignation of two politicians close to Mbeki is related to the removal of Mbeki supporters within the ANC by Zuma loyalists, and explained: "That situation should be put in a broader context to be understood properly. A few weeks ago, the African National Congress national executive committee decided that they were going to relieve Ibrahim Rasool, the premier of Western Cape, and Nosimo Balindlela, the premier of Eastern Cape, because of what were perceived to be lack of performance on their part. But those two premiers happened to be from two provinces which supported Thabo Mbeki at the Polokwane Conference. (...) So, it is not surprising that this has been seen as a purge of pro-Mbeki supporters."

Polling Data

Would you say Thabo Mbeki is doing a good job, or a bad job?

Source: Research Surveys
Methodology: Telephone interviews with 2,000 South African adults in seven major metropolitan areas, conducted in June 2008. Margin of error is 2.5 per cent.

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